Three of my favorite member-submitted designs from the first Onusgear.com contest, from left: "Galaxy," "Flower Power," and "Chinese Lantern Trees"
I just got off the phone with Greg Burrington, a nice guy from Ohio who recently started a new environmentally conscious website. As a gardener and a citizen of our planet, his concerns are close to my heart. He put the onus on me to spread the word about his endeavor.
"We were inspired by the fact that Americans use about 500 billion plastic bags a year," he said, explaining that when he heard the statistics, he worked to "come up with a fun way to reduce that number."
That fun way turned out to be Onusgear.com, a member-based effort to promote the use of canvas shopping bags to reduce our footprints on landfills, and in turn, the earth.
Visitors have to register (membership is free) to submit original designs to the website. Each month, three designs are chosen by member-submitted votes and printed on canvas bags, which then are sold on the site for $21 apiece. Winners get 2 free bags bearing their designs and initials, plus -- depending on the strength of sales for their bags -- anywhere from $50 to $500.
The first monthly contest is underway, so here's a chance to be on Onusgear's inaugural bags.
